


We'll Meet Again

by TidbitsAndThoughts



Series: Song Fic Stories [2]
Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: Also known as I couldn't help myself from sneaking theories, but here we are, into these song fics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:06:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25994941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TidbitsAndThoughts/pseuds/TidbitsAndThoughts
Summary: Young Hattie has traveled far and wide searching for her Father with only her memories to go off of and a small box her guardian found her with. Bit of a flashback story that catches up to where the previous Song Fic left off. And, as are the rules of this series, this fic is based on the song "We'll Meet Again" by TheFatRat and Laura Brehm which can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmZRu4VkV44. And, oh! Just for clarity, I named Hat Kid Hattie and the Prince is Luka. See notes at the end for a little explanation of this technically AU but more so how I like to interpret the Canon.
Series: Song Fic Stories [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1884079
Comments: 10
Kudos: 55





	We'll Meet Again

_Warm arms. Smiling face. And light. So much sunlight trailing through lush leaves. Dots of gold danced across her dress and the form of her papa as he carried her through the forest._

_Though the scent of the morning dew hung in the air, the gentle fragrance of dusty books and fresh ink that clung to her papa was much more soothing. She snuggled against his chest, her tiny fingers wrapping around his shirt. His arms around her tightened, as if responding to her desire to be closer with tender affirmations._

And then she woke up.

Glow-in-the-dark stars and planets stuck to her ceiling greeted her kindly. Distant sounds of the ocean lulled the atmosphere with a calm ebb and flow. Her warm sheets tethered her to the present, to home.

She sniffled.

And that startled her.

Lifting a small hand to her cheek, she found the cold touch of tears. Recognizing the familiar ache in her chest, she slowly pushed her covers back. She rubbed at her eyes before reaching beneath her pillow. Her fingers grasped around her treasure and she pulled it out, hugging it to her chest.

Her treasure was a small locked box. It was made of sturdy wood and embedded with purple and gold swirls that framed the curve of the wood. In the center, a purple and gold top hat lay beside an hourglass laying on its side as if signifying that time was frozen. It might as well be, at least for the contents of the box, because she didn’t have a key.

Timothy had found her with a rushed note and a locked box without a key.

She sniffled again, acutely feeling the absence of the warm arms in her dream. Clutching her treasure to her chest, she rolled out of bed and made her way towards Timothy’s room. 

The anxious six-year old stood in the door-frame, looking into the dark room where her guardian slept. Dare she wake him? He had classes late into the night and got up early to open up the bookstore. Then again, whenever she woke him, terrified by a nightmare or the shadows in the room, he was always patient with her, waiting until her tears stopped before tucking her back into bed.

But she hadn’t really had a nightmare this time. She was more upset that she had woken from her dream, actually.

After shuffling her weight around, she finally decided that she would just go for it since the idea of going back to her room alone was something she didn’t want to face.

“Can I sleep in here?” she asked quietly. Timothy, sound asleep with his jaw hanging open and with a line of saliva dripping down, barely flinched at her quiet plea. “Timothy?” She tried again, tugging on the sleeve of his pjs.

“Whu—” Timothy jerked upwards, blinking wearily as his blue eyes adjusted to the dark. He finally looked down, squinting a little. “Oh, did you have a nightmare? Was it the blizzard again?”

“No,” she looked down in dismay.

His gentle hand cupped her chin and brushed a thumb across her cheek, collecting drops of tears.

“Did you want to sleep in here?” Timothy asked with a yawn, scooting over in bed.

She nodded, relieved, and crawled into her guardian’s arms.

“Do you want to tell me your dream?” Timothy muttered, already settling back asleep.

“I think it was my papa,” she whispered, a tiny crack in her voice. Timothy gave her a comforting squeeze. “Do you—do you think—he’s out there?”

The comforting squeeze tensed.

“He might be, Hattie,” Timothy replied, hesitation lacing his voice.

“Do you think he… do you think he loves me?” She whimpered, needing in that moment for her dream to be some sort of tangible, no matter how unattainable.

“Of course, he does,” Timothy promised with confidence. “There’s no doubt in my mind that he loves you, wherever he is.”

Her shoulders trembled as she tried to hold back sobs. Timothy brushed her hair with his fingers, waiting until her breathing steadied before he stopped.

“I know he does,” Timothy whispered as she slept. He gingerly shifted into a more comfortable position, still letting her hug his arm around her stomach.

He thought about the letter that was with her in the ship. He wasn’t sure if he should read it to her, if there would ever be a good time to read it to her.

How would he explain the father she was waiting for may not be alive?

*

_“Here you go, Princess!” a voice as sweet and soothing as moonlight rang in her ears._

_Blue sky. Shade of a huge oak tree. Arms that smelled of parchment and fingers stained with ink held her up to look at a heart etched into bark._

_She leaned forward, feeling the smooth grain of the etchings against the rough texture of the bark surrounding it._

_Letters. She could picture the letters in her mind, always. The image of the letters was etched into her mind as much as the tree._

_“Do you see?” The voice sounded like laughter. Her head tilted back in the memory. Soft brown bangs hung over his eyes, but her Papa’s smile was surely one she would recognize anywhere._

_“Look.” He pressed a finger against the etching, letting her place her tiny hand on top of his finger as he traced the letters. “’L + V’, it’s almost like **L** o **v** e, isn’t it? And then, as soon as we named you, I came back and added ‘= H’.” He traced the heart around the H. “Our love made you, little heart.” _

_He nuzzled his nose against hers and she giggled, placing a hand on the L._

_“Papa!” She cried._

_“Yes!” He laughed and it was like his laughter shone like gold._

_“Mama!” She added excitedly, placing her hand on the V._

_“Exactly!” He pulled her close to his chest, hugging her tightly._

_“Mama?” She craned her neck around, only seeing the tops of trees when she looked up and mushroom sprouting from roots when she looked down._

_“She’s busy, Princess.” His hand brushed the hair out of her eyes. The joy in his voice diminished. “But, I’m sure that soon, we can all have a family picnic together! Right here, just like your Mama and I used to do.”_

_“Mama and Papa!” She cried, wrapping her arms around her Papa’s neck._

_The laughter returned to his voice as he spun around. So much love. So much light._

She woke up wishing she could remember her father’s eyes. Had they been blue like hers? Green? Grey? She felt she could remember every word he said to her, and every lullaby. Why couldn’t she remember his eyes?

Somehow, the only thing she could remember about her mother was her green eyes.

And cold.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Hattie jumped out of bed and got ready for the day. She put on the hat Timothy had gotten her to match the markings on her treasure, a purple top hat with a yellow ribbon across the band. Finally, she grabbed training gloves before running down to the bookstore connected to their apartment.

“Morning, Hattie,” Timothy greeted as she skipped over to the counter. He was just finishing up with a customer. He made small talk with the woman buying the latest copy of _Time Rifts and Other Anomalies_. Hattie listened as she absentmindedly went over to the bookmark stand and gently spun it around.

The woman had asked if Timothy had read the thick book and Timothy explained he had, which led to his explaining that he had recently finished studies and eventually planned to work at Time Co. with his degree. He admitted he just loved good old Time’s End Bookstore too much to let it go. Hattie smiled through his conversation, unable to imagine the lanky young adult anywhere but at the bookstore.

Once the woman left, Timothy turned, his short black hair carefully styled, and offered Hattie a large grin. “Ready for pilot training?”

“Aye, aye!” Hattie saluted, earning a chuckle.

“Your lunch is in the fridge, and oh!” He snapped his figures, “I got a call from Bo’s Mother. You two are going to be partners for your first Time Piece scavenger hunt!”

Hattie gasped excitedly.

“Bo and I can hang out the whole weekend?” She clasped her hands together excitedly.

“It’s not play time, Dear,” Timothy shook his head, though a smile was on his lips.

“Right, right,” Hattie nodded sagely. “It’s our first test in Time Piece retrieval, so we always know how to locate and acquire precious fuel if we’re ever stranded in space.” She recited her training manual perfectly.

“I daresay, you may be well on your way to becoming a first-rate pilot,” Timothy praised. “I’m very proud of your passion, Sweetheart.” Hattie anxiously tugged on her shirt as he waved his hand. “Now go eat breakfast! You can’t fly on an empty stomach!”

Hattie nodded before dashing to the kitchen. While she served herself a bowl of honey-nut gearios, her stomach twisted with guilt.

She hadn’t told Timothy, but she was trying so hard to be a pilot so that she could find her dad. As she stirred milk into her bowl, she couldn’t help but worry Timothy would be upset.

He had told her, gently, of course, that her dad probably wasn’t alive. Too many years had passed, and, he admitted, he wasn’t sure where or when to begin looking. The small ship, barely big enough for an adult and child, that had landed on his doorstep with just her inside, ran on Time Pieces, which meant she could have come from a different time altogether.

All she had was a box and memories growing dimmer by the dream. Fading. She could feel her Papa fading from her memories. By all accounts, it would be impossible to find him.

But she had to search before it was too late. Before all she could hold of her Papa were the entries in her diary about her dreams of him.

Remembering the stakes, she ate her breakfast and eased her conscience. It wasn’t like she would be abandoning Timothy when she got her own ship to go off and search for Time Pieces as soon as she turned eleven. She would always be able to keep in touch. She would be doing her duty of finding Time Pieces. She would just also be using the chance to find her Papa, at least, as much as she could.

In the end, she achieved everything she set out to. She and Bo earned top of their class and the young girls soon received their own ships. Hattie loaded Bo and Timothy’s numbers into her ship’s contacts, and they promised to travel time and space to help the other whenever they needed.

The future was hers. Time was on her side.

Hattie was going to find her Papa, if he was out there, which she was sure he was.

*

_Cold. It was cold. The shadows of heartbreak and anguish creeped through the floorboards, making it seem there were monsters under the crib._

_Shapes._

_Hands._

_Fear._

_Whispers._

_“Thor, you take the child and my letter. The coordinates are set.”_

_“What about you?”_

_“I have to get to the Prince before the Queen.”_

_“I can’t just leave you, Tim! She’s already turned the maid to ice!”_

_“Go! This might be your only chance. Go!”_

_She was jostled. She heard panting._

_Suddenly, still. Weight on her stomach as she was placed into a seat that cradled her well._

_“Sorry, Girly.” A calloused finger booped her nose. “I have to make sure our boys make it.” There was a sound of something shutting._

_“Be safe, traveling star.”_

Space, she found, was cold.

Hattie grunted and rolled herself into a blanket burrito. Wonderful. After her first visit to Alpine Skylines, she found herself chilled from the altitude and wishing she had one of the soft looking cloaks the nomads had. Figures that the chill was enough to cause her to have the nightmare that plagued her since she was a baby.

Even then, she felt cold clutches on her chest and could see black vapors tinted with red. Shivering, she wiggled a free hand out of her cocoon and reached under her pillow. She pulled out the box and hugged it to her chest.

Stupid Mafia that tripped her when she walked by. Stupid bird directors that forced her in the middle of their fight. Stupid ghost that took her soul and made her feel emptier than ever. And the goats weren’t actively aggressive, but you know what? They were stupid for stomping around and almost squashing her!

Hat Kid sighed, knowing that deep down, she didn’t really mean it. Sure, Snatcher was a jerk, the directors were a little obnoxious, and the Mafia were childish at best, but she knew they could be good, too. Maybe. Probably.

It didn’t really matter so long as she recovered the Time Pieces.

Letting out a sigh, she realized she really needed to get back to it. She unrolled and, after giving the box one more hug, she placed it back under her pillow. She decided that she would head to Subcon for the next Time Piece. Her next contract was about visiting some old lady’s manor but the forest was usually pretty warm compared to Alpine Skyline so she figured she could face a creepy lady if it meant chasing her chill away.

With one last pat on her pillow, clinging to warm memories and hope like a life-line, she got ready to face the day.

*

_“Lovely star, if you go beyond even the moon, remember me by this enchanted tune.” The lullaby matched the gentle rocking of her Papa’s arms. His voice was warm and gentle like a flickering candle._

_“And should you forget even the sun above, never forget how…”_

“Kid!” Snatcher’s frustrated voice snapped her out of her dozing on the floor of his hollowed tree. “What are you still doing here? Go!” 

“Did you push back Vanessa’s ice magic?” she muttered sleepily, rubbing at her eyes.

Because the forest of Subcon seemed submerged in eternal night, she wasn’t quite sure how late it was. But regardless, it had been a long day, sneaking into Vanessa’s manor and almost getting frozen to death while Snatcher’s form had an existential crisis. Speaking of…

“My forest is safe,” Snatcher growled, tapping his talons against his arms, which were crossed over his chest. She noted he seemed to be larger in his tree than usual, too big to sit comfortably in his chair as his form snaked in the air over her. Was he trying to be threatening? He leaned down, his smile wide but far from friendly, “now get _out_.”

“You still grumpy I saw your prince form?” she asked casually, watching him recoil with disbelief.

Right, he didn’t know that she knew he had been Vanessa’s Prince once upon a time.

“It would do you well to forget it.” Snatcher hissed, retreating to his chair and snapping a book out of thin air and into his hands. He shrunk down to his casual size and leaned back in his chair. Tilting the book so she could read the cover, she rolled her eyes at the violent title.

She wondered, momentarily, if she should even bother. He clearly wasn’t in a good mood and she didn’t blame him, since he just had to face his ex. But…

The new weight in her bag, though the object was light, felt like a heavy pit in her stomach. She wasn’t ready to go back to her ship just yet.

Plus, she was a little worried about her BFF.

“You didn’t look _that_ bad,” she teased, crossing over to his chair and pulling herself up on the armrest, sitting next to him. “But the puffy sleeves were a little silly.”

Snatcher turned away as he flipped the page, the only indication he heard her was the twitch of his tail.

“You know, Vanessa has diaries about the Prince scattered in the manor.” She leaned back against the chair, looking up at the mushroom growing upside down from his ceiling. “You can be a jerk sometimes, but I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.” 

The book slammed shut and Snatcher turned to her, leaning back as he propped his elbows on the book in his lap and pressed his fingers together.

“I don’t know what you read, but that was a life-time ago.” His voice was low and calculated. “It’s in the past.”

“Wait,” Hat Kid tilted her head. “You haven’t read the diary pages? Haven’t you been curious?”

“I have no reason to return to the manor. You’ve seen how the ice magic affects me. As soon as I cross the bridge, my powers are sapped.” His glowing eyes were narrow.

“But you went there for me,” Hat Kid looked down, suddenly feeling awful. She hadn’t meant to force him to relieve horrible memories of his past.

Maybe it was partly her dream earlier, the whispers of a song losing permanence in her mind, or maybe it was how scary Vanessa had been, or it might have been the weight in her bag, threatening to dash all her hopes should it not be what she thought, but nevertheless a lump formed in her throat.

She tried to stifle a sniffle as tears welled up in her eyes.

Painful silence hung between them.

“I’m contractually obligated to make sure my BFF doesn’t face any danger,” Snatcher finally said. “Unless it’s from me.”

Hat Kid glanced up, biting her lip but she couldn’t keep it from quivering. Snatcher’s hard gaze softened.

“Hey.” He reached over, wiping a tear from her cheek with the back of his talon. “You may be a brat, but I wouldn’t wish Vanessa’s ice on anyone.”

He pulled away and Hat Kid nodded, rubbing at her eyes.

Snatcher sighed and looked away.

“So, it was that obvious from my appearance that I was once her Prince?” He asked, seeming to try and ebb her tears by making conversation.

“Well,” Hat Kid wiped her nose on her sleeve. “I guess. But I knew ever since I found the storybook pages.”

“The what?” Snatcher gave her a questioning look.

“Sometimes when a Time Piece shatters, if it came into contact with someone, it’ll create a time rift influenced by the person’s memories.” She reached into her bag and pulled out the cluster of storybook pages she had bound together with some extra dweller yarn. “I don’t know who it hit but it’s about the Prince, and Vanessa.” She offered the pages to Snatcher, who took them with a raised brow.

“You sure are something, Kid,” Snatcher stared at the cover, an unreadable expression on his face.

Hat Kid shrugged, pushing herself off of the chair. Once she landed, she stretched.

“Thank you for coming to get me,” she said softly.

“Just don’t make me do it again,” Snatcher returned. She could sense he tried to lace his language with some bite, but he just sounded tired.

“I won’t,” she smiled sadly. “Anyway, I better get going.” She waved and was surprised when Snatcher returned the gesture, keeping an eye on her as she left his tree and beamed herself back up to her spaceship.

“Ugh,” she groaned with exhaustion into the quiet bedroom. Despite the rough day, she felt she had gotten closer to the ghost king of Subcon Forest, which was nice. But her day wasn’t over yet.

With trembling fingers, she reached into her bag and pulled out the object she had stolen from Vanessa’s manor. It was a small, golden key with an hourglass and purple and gold top hat on the handle.

She crossed over to her bed and reached for her pillow, but she paused.

Hesitation gripped her. There was no way the key didn’t match her box, as she had committed the patterns to memory. But what if for some reason it didn’t?

What if she had risked hers and Snatcher’s wellbeing for nothing? What if this was the last chance she had at finding her Papa? What if it fit?

Oh, stars above what if it fit?

She had flown across time and galaxies. But on an unfortunate detour that kept her from returning home, she found the one thing that might help her find her Papa. She couldn’t give up when she was this close. She couldn’t let fear stop her.

She pressed the key into the small hole in the side of the box. There was a small click and her heart leapt into her throat.

She was going to meet her Papa again.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm just saying there's a lot of imagery and objects in Subcon that connect Hat Kid to the spoopy forest and I can't get over the nursery in the manor and we all like Dadtcher SO here's my theory about Hat Kid actually being the daughter of the Prince and Vanessa but as a collection of fics. I like to think this could be plausible in canon, but if you feel it's more au than not that's fine too.   
> I subscribe to the idea that beta character Timmy was just a younger version of Tim the CEO of Time so I thought I'm going to add to the confusion and make Timothy the mid to late twenties Tim.   
> Also Tim was basically like, "Who do I trust to look after a baby? Me." *Sends Hattie to past self*  
> We still got angst on the way but I swear I got some happy songs for Time Traveling Space Alien and Noodle Dad.


End file.
